Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Cristi_Ciopron Pacino's character defines his own look as reminding of Dracula's relative from Kiev.Of course, what a sickening and puerile load of nonsense! What a pathetically grandiloquent bunch of crap! How do they all wander and meander delivering their puerile non—nonsense in one of the most preachy pieces of crap ever …;Pacino is shameless, and this march we call his movie career seems driven by his measureless ambition of plumbing ever—new depths of non—sense and low—quality. This crap is not bad movie—making; it's execrable, stupefying nonsense. The worst written movie ever; the most trite piece of self—righteousness and liberal arrogance—and do they act badly! Take a look at the scene Mrs. Basinger does with Pacino—she rolls on the bed like a slut in front of her brother—in—law—it's embarrassing. And Pacino, recycling his same meager routine. His ordinary over—the—top performance, his phony 'intensity', fit to fool kids. And so much of his career is made up of such crass nonsense; movie after movie, he plumbs new depths of crass boredom and brainless _logorrhea.This outrageous failure of a movie even stands out somewhat—as a peak of clichéd discourses and sermonizing autism. Not a few liberals wept when preached about Reverend King and the mighty Kennedys; how could Pacino even swallow those sermons about all the things he was required to reproduce, eyes popping, in front of a camera …. It's not simply bad; it's outrageously bad—like the Stalinist or Dezhist or Maoist propaganda. Man, the '60s idealist kids are die—hards! Now, dear reader, hear my advice—when you listen to someone saying that Ed Wood's flicks or other '50s monster movies are the worst movies ever, show him Al Pacino in PEOPLE I KNOW; make him sit through Mrs. Basinger's embarrassing scene also; then throw him a tomato in his face—he strongly deserves it!

Movie-Jay Don't believe the negative reviews for this film. Every negative review seems to miss the point. This is a character study about an idealist whose lost his way. It's got drugs and hookers and a subplot that could've hijacked this film and made it a simple thriller, but it's so much wiser than that as it follows Pacino instead. He's understated here and shows a more quiet side. We know he can play very mannered characters, and characters with a lot of octane and vitality, but here we're looking at shades of that character he played in 'Insomnia', tired, weary, but still marching on, wanting to do some good with his city. Just look at his scenes when he's trying to get that charity event to go off without a hitch and in that you'll see the heart of this film. Good stuff.

George Wright At the start, the movie seemed like a washout but as it moved to its climax, it became more and more gripping. Al Pacino is an actor par excellence. In this show, he is a man on a mission to bring all the old hack liberals together in an event to support a cause for people who would otherwise be ignored. He calls in debts from all the name celebrities and politicians he knows in New York. It is a challenge that requires him to appeal to their own self-interest.His health has taken a heavy toll over the years since his glory days in Selma. He is still trying to live up to the promise he once showed. As he says more than once: I finished fourth in my graduating class. Despite himself, he outshines them all in his integrity. Watch this movie, not for the story, but to see a first-rate actor at work.

fffrancesco Well, it's not a very positive world that is shown in this movie. As Kim Basinger's character (Vicc) says towards the end, "We are all kind of lurching"- this is so true. E.'s (Al Pacino) life is pathetic, to say the less. The only hope, the only sunshine ray in this movie comes from the real, deep friendship between Vicc and E. It's a great film, though, because there no bullshit in there. It goes beyond apparency. All these political and Hollywood characters are rotten, to the core, and in fact, desperate. They get drowned into alcohol, drugs and sex to loose sight of themselves. They have lost sense of real life, of real self. As far as interpretation is concerned, Kim Basinger, Al Pacino, Ryan O'Neal and Tea Leoni are all great along with the other actors. Probably the best performance of Al Pacino's career ! There, he is, far from his early Actors Studio style (a technique which most of the time gave poor results, artificial play) , just so true, so simple, so natural, in every detail. Whatever, better not look at this movie if you are already depressed or moody ! Watch it when you feel great, rather. Then, it won't affect you and you'll be able to appreciate it for what it is: a study of our times made by a naturalist.